- Chacal class destroyer
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Chacal class destroyerClass overview Name: Chacal or Jaguar Succeeded by: Guépard Completed: 6 General characteristics Type: Destroyer Displacement: 2126 tons standard, 3098 tons full load Length: 127m Beam: 11.2 m Draught: 3.65 m Propulsion: Geared turbines, 5 boilersgiving 55000 SHP Speed: 35.5 knots Complement: 8 officers, 196 men Armament: 5x 130 mm (5.1 in) guns
6 x 550 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes
2 x 37 mm /50 DCA - 3.7 cm Mod 1933 AA gunsThe Chacal-class, sometimes known as the Jaguar class, were a group of six French navy large destroyers (contre-torpilleur) built commencing 1923. Designed as larger, more capable counterparts to the Bourasque class, they set a standard for French destroyer design until the mid-1930s. All were named for wild animals: Chacal means jackal, and the other five were named for big cats.
Ships
The class saw service in the Second World War.
Ship Pennant Numbers Builder Commissioned Fate Chacal 2; G2; 7; 9; -3; X23 AT Ch de St Nazaire Panhoet 12 June 1926 lost on 24 May 1940, being sunk off Boulogne-sur-Mer by German aircraft. The wreck lies in only 2 meters of water in position 50.47.58N, 01.35.44E torpedo boats near Dunkerque. 13 members of the crew went down with the ship, another 23 were injured. The wreck lies in 8 meters of water in position 51.03.26N, 02.22.12E. Léopard 7; 2; -2; X22 AT Ch de La Loire St Nazaire 10 October 1927 The ship was seized by the Royal Navy in Portsmouth on 3 July 1940, and was transferred to the Free French on 31 August. She was stranded and wrecked north of Benghazi on 27 May 1943. Lynx 12, 15, X42 AT Ch de La Loire St Nazaire 10 October 1927 see below Panthère 1, 5, 8, 9, 12, 11, 13, 14, X23, X43 Arsenal de Lorient 10 October 1926 see below Tigre 3, G3, 6, 7, 11, 10, 13, X41 AC de Bretagne Nantes 1 February 1926 see below - Lynx, Panthère and Tigre were scuttled at Toulon on 27 November 1942 to prevent them being requisitioned by the Germans. The Germans later raised them: Lynx was broken up for scrap metal. Panthère and Tigre were repaired and transferred to the Italian navy. Panthère was then scuttled again at La Spezia on 9 September 1943. Tigre, the only ship of the class to survive the war, was transferred once more to the Free French on 29 October 1943, and she was decommissioned on 4 January 1954.
References
- M.J Whitley, Destroyers of World War 2, 1988 Cassell Publishing ISBN 1-85409-521-8
- Chacal class on uboat.net
French naval ship classes of World War IIAircraft carriers Battleships Heavy cruisers Light cruisers Large destroyers Destroyers Bourrasque • Adroit • Hardi
Submarines Other Commandant TesteS (seaplane tender) — Pluton S (minelaying cruiser)
S - Single ship of class • X - Cancelled Categories:- Chacal class destroyers
- World War II destroyers of France
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